Reasonably priced Laptop

[Jimbo]

I am looking for a reasonably priced laptop for my parents for Christmas but I haven't looked at them in ages and don't know what is current and what is good and what to stay away from anymore.

They need one as the old one is giving them trouble, power wise, shut off while still plugged in last I heard, never did hold a very long battery charge.

They need one that does the basic stuff, search the internet, get emails, play games that type of stuff.
Dad does use it for a good size amount of music he has collected.

Any and all ideas appreciated.
Where to buy and where to stay away from also.

Is Acer any good ?

One other thing, would like to still be able to get Windows 7 or XP but I know XP is not being supported anymore so thats pretty much out.

 

[navychop]

Acer is good.

I recommend a tablet instead.

 

[Jimbo]

Acer is good.

I recommend a tablet instead.

He already has a tablet ... theres no inputs for music and whatnot on the tablet though.

 

[Jimbo]

Acer is good.

I recommend a tablet instead.

Is this one any good, I know all brands have thier good, better, best ...

http://www.costco.com/Acer-Aspire-E5-laptop-|-Intel-Core-i5.product.100126547.html

 

[bigjohnok]

Is this one any good, I know all brands have thier good, better, best ...

http://www.costco.com/Acer-Aspire-E5-laptop-|-Intel-Core-i5.product.100126547.html

after googling reviews
reviews range every where from 1-5 stars.

so that is telling me there is no consistency in quality

 

[Magic Static]

I just bought one for my mom. HP with no OS. So I got Win 7 for it also. Touch Screen and good specs
HP 15-d053cl TouchSmart 15.6” Touchscreen Notebook with Intel Core i3-3120M 2.53Ghz, 6GB DDR3 RAM, 750GB HDD, DVD Burner Super Multi, HDMI Out, Webcam, USB 3.0, No Operating System

$309 @ Newegg

 

[Jimbo]

I just bought one for my mom. HP with no OS. So I got Win 7 for it also. Touch Screen and good specs
HP 15-d053cl TouchSmart 15.6” Touchscreen Notebook with Intel Core i3-3120M 2.53Ghz, 6GB DDR3 RAM, 750GB HDD, DVD Burner Super Multi, HDMI Out, Webcam, USB 3.0, No Operating System

$309 @ Newegg

I never was a fan of HP laptops ... really don't need the touch screen stuff, that will just confuse them.

Then again, like I said, I haven't kept up with laptops in the last 5 years or so.

 

[TheKrell]

How about a Chromebook? And what music does your dad process on his laptop that requires an input?

 

[meStevo]

How about a Chromebook? And what music does your dad process on his laptop that requires an input?

This is what I was going to post. 13" chromebook is a great simple laptop.

 

[woj027]

Just purchased this one for my dad last night at Best Buy. Touch Screen

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-as...lack/8274088.p?id=1219321335266&skuId=8274088

So far so good. Gotta get used to windows 8

I left him with it at 8pm last night.. not phone calls yet. although I did leave his old PC plugged in.

 

[navychop]

Is this one any good, I know all brands have thier good, better, best ...

http://www.costco.com/Acer-Aspire-E5-laptop-|-Intel-Core-i5.product.100126547.html

I'm not fond of it.

 

[TNGTony]

I bought a Toshiba laptop, mid-line great reviews...broke in two years. Bought a higher end HP laptop. Broke in two years. Said hell with it. Bought the cheapest laptop with the power I wanted $300. It's lasted me 4 years so far with daily use (4-5 hours a day, 7 days a week. 5500 or so real hours of use under its belt). The battery new had about 5 hours of useful life for light usage (internet surfing and the like) and 3 hours playing videos and some games. Now, 4 years later, it has 4+/2+ hour useful battery life. I have an ASUS laptop. Never heard of the brand before I bought it.

http://www.newegg.com/ASUS-All-Laptops-Notebooks/BrandSubCat/ID-1315-32

 

[Jimbo]

I have another one I am looking at as well.
Toshiba Satellite C55 with an i3
Any thoughts ?

 

[Nebugeater]

I have had good luck buying Dell Referb and over the years for both personal and work have probably made 20 purchases with no issues. Good value and plenty of options

 

[navychop]

Toshiba seems to go thru good and bad years. We've had good experience with Dell and ASUS.

 

[Jimbo]

Toshiba seems to go thru good and bad years. We've had good experience with Dell and ASUS.

Soooo .... the one i mentioned above, good year or bad year ?

 

[navychop]

DK.

 

[Stargazer]

I would not recommend Chromebook. I would also not recommend Compaq/HP computers. They have the worst reliability rating in the industry. I recommend ASUS. They have the best reliability rating in the industry and have a history of making good motherboards. I had a Toshiba and knew someone else that had one as well. We had issues with it after a year. I have not bought any since and don't think I can recommend their product even though they were close to ASUS as having the best reliability rating.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Comcast gave me a Lenovo yoga the other day. Pretty awesome as I thought they where giving me a cheap laptop as my prize.

Im not happy with windows 8.

You can get a good laptop with windows 7 for a few hundred bucks and you'll be fine.

 

[Dirtydan]

Asus would be my choice. My better half has an HP, about 5 yrs, been repaired 2 or 3 times. My daughter has a late model Toshiba that just had Hard Drive replaced. Repair guy said that the Tosh HDs have bad reputation.
Dan